An electronic device, such as a portable electronic device, may be equipped with one or more antennas configured for facilitating wireless communication based on one or more standards such as, for example, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, GPRS, WCDMA, CDMA2000, etc. The antenna may be supported by an antenna-carrying assembly. Typically, there are two types of antenna-carrying assemblies: add-on antenna-carrying assemblies and built-in antenna carrying assemblies.
A typical add-on antenna-carrying assembly may be represented by a PC card antenna-carrying assembly. A PC card antenna-carrying assembly may have a PC card configuration and may be inserted into a PC card slot of an electronic device, such as a notebook computer or PDA. Generally, a significant portion of the PC card antenna-carrying assembly may protrude from the enclosure of the electronic device for reception and transmission of electromagnetic signals (or RF signals).
The protrusion may cause significant inconvenience associated with the use of the electronic device. For example, a user of the electronic device may have to remove the PC card antenna-carrying assembly before the electronic device can be stowed or transported in a case or bag. Further, the PC card antenna-carrying assembly and the electronic device may be disposed separately when the electronic device is stowed or transported. As a result, the PC card antenna-carrying assembly may not be available when wireless communication is needed. If the PC card antenna-carrying assembly is not removed from the electronic device, the protrusion may increase the likelihood of damage to the PC card antenna-carrying assembly or the electronic device during transportation.
A typical built-in antenna-carrying assembly may represent a rotatable part of an electronic device. In general, a built-in rotatable antenna-carrying assembly may be mechanically coupled with an enclosure of an electronic device through a pivot mechanism. The rotatable antenna-carrying assembly may be rotated to a deployed position for reception and transmission of electromagnetic signals, and may be rotated to a stowed position when not in use.
The rotatable antenna-carrying assembly may represent a protrusion outside the enclosure of the electronic device. If the rotatable antenna-carrying assembly and the pivot mechanism are not sufficiently reinforced, the rotatable antenna-carrying assembly and/or the pivot mechanism may be prone to damage. If the rotatable antenna-carrying assembly or the pivot mechanism is damaged, repair/replacement of the rotatable antenna-carrying assembly or the pivot mechanism may be inconvenient or event difficult, given the coupling among the rotatable antenna-carrying assembly, the pivot mechanism, and the enclosure. If the rotatable antenna-carrying assembly and the pivot mechanism are to be sufficiently reinforced, significant material and manufacturing costs may be incurred.
When employed with a notebook computer, a prior art antenna-carrying assembly, such, as a PC card antenna-carrying assembly or a rotatable antenna-carrying assembly, may generally be disposed at the base unit of the notebook computer. Accordingly, the antenna may be positioned close to the table on which the notebook is placed. As a result, electromagnetic signals may be obstructed by the table, and the efficiency of signal reception and transmission may be suboptimal.
Further, if the notebook computer has a metal enclosure that is opaque to electromagnetic waves, given that the antenna is disposed at the base unit, electromagnetic signals may be further blocked by the metal enclosure of the display module of the notebook computer. As a result, the efficiency of signal reception and transmission may be further compromised. In order to mitigate the problem, manufacturers may need to avoid metal materials when designing notebook computer enclosures.